Harwich Lifeboat station is one of the busiest in Britain and is just one of the 230 RNLI stations based about Britain 's coast. The RNLI is a charity that provides a 24-hour lifesaving service around the UK and Republic of Ireland . The RNLI operates solely from public donations and the crews & supporters are all volunteers.

The Harwich lifeboat station is located on the busy and historic England 's east coast, situated at the mouth of the River Stour & Orwell and opposite is Felixstowe the largest commercial port in the UK . The Harbour and surrounding area is very popular with the increasing leisure industry, from yachting, power-boating, jet skiers and popular tourist's beaches. Harwich has a lifeboat history dating from 1876 and has been home to the first steam lifeboat "Duke of Northumberland” in 1890 and in 1996 the first Severn class lifeboat to be stationed in England was at Harwich.

Today there are two lifeboats stationed at Harwich the off-shore Severn class lifeboat “Albert Brown” and the inshore Atlantic 75 lifeboat “Sure and Steadfast”. In 2002 saw the completion of a new boathouse that provides crew training facilities, houses the in-shore lifeboat, public viewing area and souvenir shop. The two lifeboats cover area from Walton-on-the-Naze to Aldeburgh and 50 miles off-shore, this includes the various different rivers such as the Deben, Ore and Walton-back-waters. This all leads to a very busy lifeboat station with an average of 100 services every year, this keeps the crews and lifeboats very busy.

This web site will provide you a better understanding of the latest services, history, activities and information about the work accomplished at the Harwich Lifeboat Station .

Station News

12/09/2014 - Royal Oak Family Fun Day

With the weather starting to cool off for the Autumn, we'd just like to look back to late August!

The Royal Oak at Harwich put on another great family fun day in support of Harwich Lifeboat Station. Thankfully, the weather held itself together and everybody was able to enjoy the afternoon outside. Entertainment included live music, a bouncy castle, BBQ and of course, one or two drinks!

Everybody at Harwich Lifeboat Station would like to express their thanks to those that supported the event this year and a huge thank you must go to the Royal Oak at Harwich for organising the event.

It has been another busy Summer at Harwich Lifeboat Station and it is support and events such as this that help to ensure the station and crew remain equipped for when the next call comes.

Pictures of the fun day are shown below (News Page), including one or two of the Harwich Lifeboat family that you might recognise!

Latest Service

ALB - 28/06/2017 0450-0730

The all weather lifeboat was launched early on Wednesday morning to go to the assistance of a yacht with a fouled prop.

The vessel had managed to deploy its anchor, holding it in position close to the entrance of the river Deben. On arrival at the scene, a tow was established and the lifeboat headed towards Harwich harbour. Shortly before 7:30am, the yacht was delivered safely to Shotley Marina where it could be lifted out of the water.